Dark Forces
by mermaidstear
Summary: Audrey has spent most of her life distancing herself from the merciless father who experimented on her for being different but when an enigmatic man demands to know where her father is so that he can kill him, she is drawn into a world of others like her, people with mysterious powers, which might not be as bad as she thought. XMFC/DOFP. Erik/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I know I should be updating other stories but this idea has been bugging me for a few days and I decided I couldn't resist writing it anymore. This is my first X-Men story and my first story dealing with characters with overt superpowers (yeah, I've written for Avengers but they don't turn invisible or have telekinesis) so this is a real departure for me. Let me know what you think! I own nothing but Audrey.**

"I really am sorry, Ms. Shaw, but the position has already been filled," Dr. Aaron Beckett tells me as though I am a child likely to throw a tantrum.

"Forgive me, Dr. Beckett, but you already promised me the job," I say. "You all but said so at my last interview. I've already turned in my resignation at the bank!" Dr. Beckett only decides to look at me like he pities me.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Shaw, but this is out of my hands. It's just not going to work out between you and Ingold Labs." I feel myself starting to get angry so I quickly tighten my blazer around my torso and tuck my hands inside. _Deep breaths, _I chant. _Calm down. _I look down and notice the tips of my fingers have begun to disappear, an unfortunate effect of strong emotions. _Please no, not here, not now. _I ball my hands into fists and turn my attention back to Dr. Beckett.

"You know that I'm qualified for this, Dr. Beckett," I plead. "I've worked to get myself from the bottom to the top. I paid for my time at university myself. I am a hard worker and a quick learner. You told me that you would take a chance on me if I proved myself and-"

"It's not a matter of whether you're qualified because you clearly are… on paper. You graduated from Oxford with a degree in inorganic chemistry, which is unique in and of itself, and your paper on transitional metal compounds is likely to win a Pulitzer. But you have no field experience." I feel my temper beginning to flare again. I want to ask how I am supposed to gain experience if I am never given the chance to try.

"You never mentioned that that would be a problem in any of my other interviews. You all but told me that I had secured the position." He doesn't deem that worthy a response but decides to go one step further in insulting me.

"More than that, Ms. Shaw, you simply aren't very personable." I knew this would be coming. "You keep to yourself, you're quiet. Nothing about you is conducive to a healthy working environment with other scientists. There are many factors that we had to consider before we could offer the job to anyone. Personality is a much bigger deal than you might think."

"I know that I am no one's definition of a team player but many scientists aren't. Besides, this job was meant to be a solitary lab position. That's what was listed in the paper and on the application. It also doesn't change the fact that I am the most qualified to do this."

"I apologize for how unprofessional this has been, Ms. Shaw, but you are _not_ the most qualified. It's nothing personal." Oh, but it is. Now I realize the real reason for my rejection; it's that I'm a woman.

"You know that I am _far _more capable than any of the other applicants, men or not." My eyes start to threaten tears so I look down at my pale yellow skirt. "I need this job, Dr. Beckett. Something clearly changed your mind about me and I want to know what I can do to put myself back on your radar."

"It's not as simple as just changing _my _mind. Why don't you have your father call us and give us a recommendation?" I barely have a chance to look down before I see that my entire hand has disappeared. _Pleasant thoughts, be calm, breathe in, breathe out. _Now I cannot see my shoe. _This isn't happening, _I think. I am becoming invisible in the middle of Ingold Labs. "It would be a step towards the scientific community taking you more seriously."

"My father and I have been estranged for years and it's been a long time since I needed him to fight my battles for me." Dr. Beckett only looks at me like he's disappointed.

"Then I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do."

I am proud of the fact that I'm able to hold it together long enough to exit Ingold Labs. Once I am outside the doors, I feel tears stain my cheeks. _This is it, _I think. _My scientific career has ended before it began. I've been out of school for years and still, nothing. _I know I was foolish to ever think that Beckett had meant a word of what he said. I knew in the first interview that he was only interested in what I looked like. It was why I had decided to dress dowdy in the second interview and today, in the hopes that I would be taken more seriously. The first time, it had seemed like it worked. Dr. Beckett was impressed by my resume and he seemed even more impressed by the fact that I had basically raised myself. He admired that I worked my way through college and he was in awe of my academic achievements. But the sexism of the company had won out. The best job I could have hoped to get from them would have been as a secretary.

What was the point of slaving in chemistry labs and writing 20 page papers if I could never hope to be taken seriously as a scientist?

Irrationally, I wonder if my father has anything to do with it. Ingold is the fourth in a string of chemistry labs that have rejected me and ironically, it's the fourth to offer me a chance if I got my father to call in a recommendation. It is weirdly suspicious that none of the companies at least offered to let me apply for a desk job. But my father is still renowned in the scientific community and who would want a shy girl with a quiet voice answering their phones? I'm sure it's nothing. I haven't been in contact with my father since I ran away from him when I was fifteen. He had never seemed to care much for me anyway so why would he pursue me or try to ruin my life?

Sebastian Shaw is a grown man with much better things to do than sabotaging a long lost daughter.

I wander back to my flat to get dressed for my last shift at the bank. I regret turning in my resignation with them, not only because I will soon have no money but because I actually enjoy working there. I started my freshmen year in college and since then, they've been nothing but kind to me. My boss even encouraged me to try for the position at Ingold. I have a better working relationship with the people there than I will probably ever have anywhere else.

I twist my dark hair into a bun and put on a pretty blue tweed dress that makes me feel like Jackie Kennedy. At least I will look decent for my last day.

As I make my way down to the bank, wobbling on top of my heels, I think to myself that one good thing has happened today; I was able to keep my power in control while under duress. I had been twelve when my power began to manifest for the first time. I had been so careful to keep it from my father but he knew almost immediately. Even if he hadn't, I would have shown what I could do sooner or later. I've never been able to control it. It is linked almost entirely to emotion, particularly embarrassment or fright and if there's one thing I've always been afraid of, it is my father.

You would think invisibility would be useful , especially for somebody like me who doesn't want to be noticed. It might have been, had I ever been told how to do it when I want or how to keep it permanent for any length of time. Mostly, it just comes and goes, even if I don't notice it. That was how my father had seen it one night; the night that distinguished me as more than just a burden on him but a project.

I shudder unconsciously when I think of all the tests he used to run on me. My father has his own power but it is nothing like invisibility and he was convinced that if I tried hard enough, my power would become something more. I had never been convinced of that. My father raved like a madman when he was with me and most of the time, I was in too much pain to actually listen to what he was saying. I'm still not sure what he thought would happen when he ran tests on me or hurt me to see when my ability would show. Maybe he thought I would prove myself to be powerful, like he was. I didn't stick around to find out.

I am glad to lay my eyes on Lloyds Bank in London because it allows me to forget about my father for the time being. I dread letting people know that I didn't get the job at Ingold but they are surprisingly supportive of me. My boss, John, even wants me to reapply for my teller job. I tell him I'll think about it even though it is almost a certainty that I will reapply.

My last shift is entirely uneventful until the last thirty minutes of it. I am collecting my things in the event that I don't reapply when I hear my manager speaking with someone in the lobby. I pay no attention until I hear him call my name.

"Audrey, could you come here, please?" I close the cardboard box holding my few things and come out from behind the wall separating tellers from customers. John is speaking with a tall, dark haired man, who looks irritated. He is handsome in a sort of closed off way.

"Yes?" I say as I reach them. The customer appears to be even more agitated by my presence.

"Mr. Lehnsherr was supposed to have a meeting with Arnold Lutz this afternoon about a deposit but unfortunately, Arnold forgot to inform him that he would be out of town," John says slowly. "I told Mr. Lehnsherr that you were more than qualified to take Arnold's place." I try to hide the shock that is plain on my face. Arnold is a senior banker, with a real office and everything. I am not on his level by any stretch of the imagination… but I pretend that I am.

"Of course," I reply.

"My apologies to you both but I have express business with Mr. Lutz," the man says. I feel something crack inside me when I hear his voice, an odd recognition. He looked familiar a few minutes ago but now I am positive we've met before. Based on his tone, he runs with the crowd of scientists that deem me unworthy to work with them because I'm a woman.

"Mr. Lutz will be out of town for at least two more weeks," John says awkwardly. I can tell he doesn't want to anger Mr. Lehnsherr so I step forward.

"I'm Audrey Shaw and I assure you that I'll meet your every need," I say, extending my hand towards him. Something in his face changes, like I've surprised him, then he takes my hand and smiles.

"I'm sure you will, Ms. Shaw," he replies.

John gives me the keys to Arnold's lavish office and the key to a safety deposit box, in case that was what Mr. Lehnsherr wanted to open. I feel my heart pounding as I lead him down a hallway to the office. I clutch the keys hard to hopefully prevent my ability from manifesting. It doesn't help as I see my fingers beginning to fade and then slowly, my hand, my forearm. _Not now. This is a huge responsibility. Not now. _After a couple of deep breaths, it dissipates and I open the door to the office and close it behind us.

"Well, Mr. Lehnsherr, how can I help you?" I ask, moving to sit behind Arnold's desk.

"Please call me Erik," he replies, sitting down across from me. He smiles at me slyly and I feel heat rise to my face. Never a good sign. I dig my nails into my skin to distract me.

"Um, alright," I say, trying to make myself relax. It's almost impossible to do. For some reason, I am positive this man knows something that I don't want him to know. Oh no, has he seen me go invisible before? Is he trying to make it happen?

"I'm here to make a deposit, Ms. Shaw," Erik tells me as he reaches into the bag he brought with him. "I was supposed to have this conversation with Mr. Lutz but perhaps, you'll have better advice."

I freeze as he drops a gold bar on the desk in front of me. A swastika is emblazoned on top. I don't even have to look to know that my extremities are disappearing. I make myself take a deep breath before I say, "Having that is illegal, you know. Where'd you get it?" My mind is doing its best to rationalize this. This man may be older than I am but it's only by a few years, at most. He's too young to be a Nazi. Then it hits me.

"Let's not play this game, Ms. Shaw." A hand has covered my mouth as I stare at Erik's forearms, unfortunately covered by a dress shirt and jacket.

"Was Arnold a Nazi?" I ask, quickly hiding my hands under the desk. Of course he was. How was I so blind as to not realize it?

"Don't feign innocence with me," Erik demands.

"I swear to you, I don't know him. I just work with him." This is bad. I've wondered why more Holocaust survivors haven't gone after men they saw in the camps but obviously, the Nazis have adapted to hiding in plain sight. Isn't that what my father does?

Erik stands and acts like he's going to come around the desk after me so I stand too. If ever there was a moment where I desperately wanted my power to work, now would be the time. "Why don't you tell me where your father is, Ms. Schmidt?" Something inside me snaps and I slam my hands down on the desk.

"What did you just call me?" I ask. I suspected he knew something but certainly not this. I've been so careful to completely move away from that name. I have lost every bit of a German accent I ever had. No one could have any idea that Shaw is an alias, unless they knew my father and I years ago. It should be impossible for anybody to know that we changed our names.

I jolt from these thoughts as I see Erik's eyes widen at the sight of my arms (or lack thereof).

"His own daughter has an ability. I guess I should have known that his fascination of the strange had to start somewhere."

"What are you talking about?" My power stalls and I am regrettably fully visible again. Something is telling me that this man is onto something. I am now positive that he is more than one of many angry Holocaust survivors. He's like me. "How do you know who I am? How do you know my father? What did he do to you?"

"I know your father because I have gifts like you," he says. Even though I am almost positive that Erik may kill me, I feel a huge weight lift off my shoulders. I always vaguely knew that my family and I weren't the only ones with special abilities and more than that, I had always suspected that I wasn't the only one with those abilities that my father had experimented on.

"Can you show me?" He gives me an almost imperceptible nod and I see him extend his hand towards the desk. I jump as I notice the drawers open by some invisible force, pulled by their metal handles. Arnold's expensive metallic pens move across the table top to face me as though they are likely to pierce me like bullets. "Metal," I whisper. "You can move metal."

"Yes," Erik says, dropping his hand. The pens fall on the desk and the drawers pull back in. "The rest isn't as important. I just want to know where he is."

"So you can kill him?" I know the answer before he nods. I cannot pretend to know what this man endured at the hands of my father but he doesn't need to tell me it was horrible. "I haven't spoken with him in years but there are a couple of places he may be. They're all in Argentina." I have barely registered the fact that I have just outted my father to a total stranger. For all I know, this is a sick joke being played on me by Sebastian Shaw himself. But there is something about Erik Lehnsherr that makes me believe it's not. This vendetta is real to him and I can tell that talking to me had always been on his agenda.

He reaches around the desk and wraps his fingers around my upper arm. "Good. Then you can take me to them."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Wow, thank you all so much for the feedback and follows and favorites! I never imagined people would respond so well, haha. I'm sorry the chapter is short but I'll hopefully update again in a couple of days! Please keep telling me what you think! **

I am wandering through London Airport with Erik Lehnsherr on my arm. He hasn't let me out of his sight or out of arm's reach since he realized I was likely to vanish into thin air. An hour ago, we had been in my flat, hopelessly looking for my passport and in that entire time, he never took his hand off my arm. He let me go only once; so that I could change to look nicer for a flight. I stupidly questioned it and Erik had responded, "You're not in near enough control of that mutation for me to have to worry about you getting away."

I took two things away from this statement; one, he is a good liar because he is still obviously afraid I will disappear and two, he considers these powers mutations. I can't believe I've never thought of that before.

While I changed, I stuffed two notebooks in my purse. _Mutations? Fascinating._

Erik lets me go for a brief second before he grabs my hand. I can only assume that he's finally realized that he looked he was escorting a criminal when he was forcing me in front of him with a tight grip on my arm. For all I know, that is exactly how he sees me. I can't be sure as I've avoided eye contact with him since we were in the bank.

Erik tightens his grip on my hand as we move through a group of people who have just gotten off a plane. This could've been my chance. The only solid chance I've seen since I realized I was being kidnapped. But there is no way that I can escape. All of the factors that I thought would be in my favor pale as I realize that Erik could break my arm or pull my shoulder out of socket before I finished jerking away from him. That might initiate my power for long enough for me to get away so that I could disappear into a crowd of people but it wouldn't last. In fact, it would work against me if I manage to turn invisible right here amidst all of these normal people.

I decide to take a deep breath and accept the fact that I am not escaping. There's still the off chance that I can manage to flee in Argentina.

Once we are free of the crowd, I see that we are almost at the gate and Erik speaks to me for the first time since we got here. "You might want to calm down," he says, nodding at my right hand. _It's happening. _I stuff my hand in my purse to pull out my passport. _No, no, no. Don't vanish. Deep breaths. Count to five. That always works. _

_One._

"Flight 187 to Buenos Aires is loading!" a voice says over the intercom.

_Two._

I look down at my passport that I'm clutching so hard that I might rip it.

_Three._

I grasp Erik's hand like I know him, like he might give me some support.

_Four._

I break a sweat.

_Five. _

"Don't tell me you're a bad flier," Erik groans.

"Terrible," I admit, finally making myself look Erik in the eye. He has an irritated and callous look on his face. Just as I suspected. I loosen my grip on his hand and go back to looking at my passport.

The picture is fairly recent. It shows my dark brown hair in a sleek style and my round face doesn't look so childish. My plain hazel eyes stare back at me while my plump lips are trying to do their best to smile. I'm not a photogenic person. Maybe that's why I got the gift of invisibility. Wouldn't that be ironic?

Erik drops my clammy hand to give our tickets to the flight attendant outside the gate. _Here's my chance, _I think. But for some reason, I don't take it. I walk past the flight attendant and get on the plane behind Erik as though I am going on vacation.

I have to admit that I am more incredibly curious about Erik Lehnsherr than I am afraid of him. As he makes me sit down close to the window (despite my crippling paranoia of flying), I cautiously watch him take off his jacket and roll his shirt sleeves up before sitting down beside me. I finally see the numbers. I knew my dad was bad news but this was so much worse. Erik had been nothing more than a child. That must be how I recognized him. If my father had attempted to do to him what he had done to me, I would gladly tell him everything I know. I have hated my father almost my entire life but this makes me wish him dead.

I pause in my thoughts as I feel the plane begin to take off. _Happy thoughts, _I think as I grip the armrests. _I can do this. I can do this. _I close my eyes and take a couple deep breaths. I feel Erik lean closer to me so I wonder if I'm losing control no matter what I do.

"Ms. Shaw, this plane is not going to crash," he says.

"You don't know that," I respond, opening my eyes.

"It's highly unlikely," he replies. Then he lowers his voice. "Besides, I can manipulate metal."

He's right. He may want me dead at some point, as recompense for whatever my father did to him, but it's not going to happen on this plane. That means I have a seventeen hour flight to convince Erik that I'm worth keeping around… or better yet, letting go.

"Thank you," I say as the plane stabilizes. "I haven't been on a plane in over ten years." And that time had truly been awful. It was one of the few times my power has made me completely invisible and I took advantage of it by walking onto a rickety Argentinian plane to get away from my father. It made me sick and nervous. By the time we landed in Mexico, I had become anxious enough that I went fully invisible again and from there, I had climbed onto another plane to Europe.

"That might be part of your problem. The technology has changed a bit in ten years," he responds. "They are the safest way to travel."

"That's the thing. I know they are. I know how they work and what each of the parts is called. I minored in engineering but… I also know the parts of them that are the most likely to blow up." I look over at Erik, who has turned most of his body away from me.

"The chances are fairly high that I can make sure they don't." I nod.

I wonder how that works. Does he concentrate all of his willpower on whatever he's trying to move depending on its size? Does he have to think about it the whole time or is it a reflex? What all can he move? Just metals or some semi-metals? What about magnetic fields? Could he feel something coming towards him and stop it?

I am so glad I brought some notebooks.

I pull one out and start jotting down my questions. I doubt that Erik will deem it worthy to answer anything I ask him but I may try anyway. I'm still stuck on the idea of powers being mutations rather than genetically inherited abilities from our parents. Maybe it does run in families with predispositions to these mutations. Maybe there's a way to predict which families will produce mutant children. I wonder if someone is researching this because they should be.

I scribble this down fast before I look up and see Erik watching me. It's in distaste. He looks at me like he thinks I trample puppies and kittens for fun. It makes me nervous and it makes me mad. I close my notebook around my pen and decide that here is my chance to prove that I am not my father.

"Can I ask you something?" I say. The disgusted expression on his handsome face doesn't change as he nods at me. I can tell that he was happy I was being quiet, probably so that he could fantasize about how he was going to murder my father. "Are you going to look at me like this for the entire flight?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," Erik retorts.

"You look at me like I hurt you." _Like a kicked dog, _I think. Erik responds by looking away from me and not saying anything. "Please hear me out. I am not my father. The only thing I have in common with him is my last name. He's a monster. I have no illusions that he's a good man."

"Really?" Erik says, cutting in. "I'm sure he never told you what he did to people in the camps or what he did to me because of what I can do." I shake my head.

"No, he didn't," I respond, glancing down at my hands. "But I can imagine."

"I doubt that," he replies. I have done nothing to Erik in my whole life, I have no idea who he is, but he regards me warily. I could never be a threat to him but he doesn't seem to believe that. I gulp as I realize that I'm going to have to tell him some things to convince him I'm not at all my father's daughter.

"If I tell you what he did to me, will you tell me why you want my father dead?" This seems to pique Erik's interest in me and he nods. I'm curious as to whether Erik thought he was the only one my father had experimented on, like I always had. "I've never really been close with my father, even though I lived with him for my entire childhood. I don't think I interested him. He wanted a boy so he always made it clear that I was a disappointment." I look down at my lap to hopefully keep my powers in check. "I don't remember much of the war because my mother died during it and when I was a kid, she was my whole world. After she died, I just remember a lot of clinical rooms and a lot of changing faces. Then the war was over and we had to move. I didn't know why until it finally hit me what my dad did for the Germans." _Stay calm. It's over. It's done. It'll never happen again. _"My powers first manifested when I was twelve and I couldn't control them. I still can't. But my father saw it happen and for a brief moment, I was sure I'd done something to impress him, something to make him like me." I cast a glance at Erik and he already looks guilty for suspecting the worst of me. "From there, I don't remember too much other than being tested on and sedated for long periods of time. He kept telling me it was for my own benefit and he was just trying to help me. I think he thought he was helping me control it when he just made me want to pretend it wasn't there. When I saw an opportunity, I ran and never looked back so I'm sure you can imagine that I'm not very happy to be on this plane."

I look over at Erik and I know that I have made the right choice in telling him. He seems completely abashed but he doesn't apologize. Instead, he just says, "Shaw killed my mother."

"I'm so sorry," I reply. I think about touching him but I don't. He just looks away from me and after a few minutes of saying nothing, I go back to writing in my notebook.

After pondering about metallic alloys and compounds, I notice that Erik has fallen asleep. It probably wasn't intentional. What a shame. Even asleep, he looks on edge. I feel really bad for Erik. He basically admitted that he had been experimented on too but the worst thing my father did to him was murder his mother. I wonder why, for two people with such similar backgrounds, we ended up handling it so differently. I have completely moved on and ignore the fact that it ever happened. I would be happy to pretend that I've never met my father but it's as though it's the only thing Erik thinks about. He obviously carries a lot of anger and maybe so do I. It's possible that he doesn't have many friends… or any friends at all and I certainly can't judge him for that. I don't either.

Maybe it's because I'm tired or maybe it's because I'm curious. Whatever it is, right now as I'm falling asleep on a plane to Argentina, I decide I'm going to see this through to the end. I'm going to help Erik find my father and kill him for the both of us.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi all! Thanks again for all the feedback, follows, and favorites! I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate it. I hope you like this chapter! And as usual, I only own Audrey.**

When I wake up, my head is bouncing against the window and there are only two hours left in the flight. I sleepily open my eyes. My notebook is still in my lap and I have a serious crick in my neck. I turn my head to the side and see that Erik is already awake and is talking to a flight attendant.

"Oh, great, Audrey, you're awake," I hear him say cheerfully. I want to make a face but I decide against it when I realize the flight attendant wants to bring me breakfast. I have barely said the words before she's gone and come back. I am so happy when I see waffles that I want to kiss her. I barely see what Erik is going to eat before I dive in.

I set my notebook on the flight tray beside my plate and I see Erik look at it out of the corner of my eye.

"Are you keeping a journal?" Erik asks me. I try not to laugh.

"No, I'm just taking notes," I reply. I eat some more.

"Notes on what?" I'm not sure what he's thinking. Maybe he's concerned I'm sketching him so I can give his picture to the police or writing down everything that's happened so I can give a statement. Either way, it's rather funny. For a man who could kill me and everyone on this plane in a matter of seconds, he is strangely suspicious of me.

"Well, they're mostly on what you can do. I've never really known someone who has abilities like me and I'm an inorganic chemist with a specialty in metallic alloys and compounds so you are supremely interesting to me." There's no use in lying. Erik is rather fascinating.

"I thought you were a bank teller," he replies, looking over at me.

"That was only supposed to be temporary," I groan, still bitter about my latest rejection. "I should be working in a lab but I haven't been hired at one yet." _Not a total lie._

"Are you good at it?"

"If I have one talent, chemistry is it."

"I can think of at least another." That was kind, even though I've always considered invisibility a hindrance. "I don't think you should reject what you can do. You should embrace it."

I shake my head. "That's easy for you to say. If you get embarrassed, things don't start flying around. I actually disappear."

"My power used to only manifest when I was angry. It just takes practice to control."

"It would take a lot of practice for me. I can't even make myself turn if I want to."

"Your emotions don't always have to hinder you. They should help you." He's undoubtedly right. I know that almost all of it is in my head but I resent having the power at all. It causes me so much grief and has since I first knew I could do it. I've spent so much time trying to push it away that I'm not totally sure I could really master it now.

"Well, I'll be sure to work on that." Oddly enough, I wondered whether Erik thought of himself as a freak as I always had. Apparently, not. He's embraced it and become a force to be reckoned with while I tighten my hands into fists and hope my power will just go away.

"Until you've learned how to control it, why don't you do something to cover it? If it starts in your hands, you should wear gloves." I'm assuming that my confession to Erik last night has totally changed his opinion of me because he's actually offering help.

"I've tried it. It doesn't work. I know that you would think it wouldn't affect my clothes but it does. It's terrible. If I were to touch you when it happens, you would be invisible too."

"I think that means you're powerful. You should exercise it more often. What you can do is amazing." I look down at my tray and smile. I've never thought of it that way before.

"Thank you," I say, "but it might take me a while to accept that." _'Might?' More like 'will.'_ Luckily, Erik decides to drop the topic there. But he will come back to it, over and over again.

"So everything you've been writing since we got on the plane has been about me?" Erik might be close to smiling… or close to knocking me out. I'm not quite sure. Either way, I feel my power start to flex. _No, _I tell myself succinctly.

"Not exactly. A lot of them have been about mutation in general, which I would never have thought of if you hadn't mentioned it. I was always under the impression it had to be genetic in families, not just random. But like I said, you're the first person with a mutation that I've ever talked to other than my father."

"That's the same for me. I assumed I couldn't be alone but I never thought I'd ever really find someone else." He kind of smiles so I do too. This is a good sign.

We each finish our breakfast and the flight attendant comes and retrieves our trays. I take the fact that Erik has been nice this morning as a sign that I can talk to him about my questions.

"Since you happen to know what I've been writing down, can I ask you some things?" I request quietly. Erik looks like he wants to debate it but he doesn't.

"Sure," he replies. I flip open my notebook and get ready to write.

"What's the heaviest thing you can move?" I ask, staring at him expectantly.

"I'm not completely sure," he says. "I haven't tested all of my limits yet."

"Do you think you could fly if you had some kind of suit with metal on it?" I wanted to say armor but that is such an outdated word and Erik already looks like he wants to laugh at this question.

"I've never thought of that before but I'm going to keep it in mind."

"What if I had on a necklace or a ring or something like that? Could you move me purely with that little bit of metal?"

"Yes," he replies as though this is something he has done many times over.

"Wow," I whisper. "Can you manipulate magnetic fields?"

"Again, I'm not sure."

"I bet you can. How about things that are only partially metal? If there's the smallest amount, can you control it?"

"I'm positive I could."

"This is incredible. You're incredible. I know you probably don't care what I think but what you can do is extraordinary. The idea that you could control this entire plane is absolutely mind-boggling." I know I am blabbering, which I'm normally not prone to, but I have never been so excited about something in my life. That there is someone else who is just as different as I am but with this particular ability is just fantastic.

"Imagine the pair we'd make if you master what you can do." Erik looks over at me then, his mouth almost curling into a smile. I barely register that my hands are vanishing. He's assuming I'll help him get rid of my father. Where before I was undoubtedly nothing more than a shoddy lead to Sebastian Shaw, I am now possibly a partner. I'm not sure whether I'm happy about it or whether I'm nervous. _Nervous, _I think. _Unequivocally nervous._

The idea to kill my dad isn't a new one. I thought of it all the time as a teenager at his complete mercy. I had running fantasies where I would miraculously get the strength to not only flee but kill my father in the process. But I was always stuck on how. When my invisibility was first revealed (at the dinner table, no less), my father claimed I wasn't alone because I had him and that he could do things I had never dreamed about. I soon learned that he could manipulate and absorb energy, making it so that anything I could throw at him would never hurt him. It would only make him stronger. And once he had the energy, that was when I was supremely frightened.

Thus, I was never quite sure how to manage it. He would see me coming from a mile away. It would be impossible not to. He knew I hated him and resented him but more than that, he knew I was scared of him. In that way, he was always going to have the advantage and I was positive that that would never change. It's a miracle that I was able to run away at all.

As I finish thinking about this, I realize the plane is about to land in Buenos Aires.

I make it through the flight alive, even though my fingernails have put a permanent imprint on the armrests of my seat. Erik takes my hand to lead me through the airport like he did in London. I assume this means he still doesn't trust me, which is fine. I don't really trust him either.

He guides me through a crowd of people and then pulls me towards him.

"Where do you think Shaw is?" Erik asks.

"Well, there's a couple of places in Villa Gesell, which isn't too far from here. One is the house we moved to after the war, which might not even be there anymore." I certainly hope it isn't. There would be enough there to indict my father for a lifetime. "Another is a bar. I vaguely remember that my dad and his friends used to spend a lot of time there."

"Vaguely?" Erik replies.

"I ran away when I was fifteen. My whole time in Argentina is a little groggy."

"Well, you'll take me to both." I nod and follow him out of the airport, still holding his hand.

It is later in the day in Argentina than I would've thought so there is only time to visit one place today. Erik decides my old house is it. I am quiet the entire drive there, consistently trying to mute my invisibility. I'm surprised that I'm able to remember how to get there as easily as if I come all the time. Erik keeps staring at me as though he thinks I will have a breakdown but he doesn't say anything, which is good because I need to concentrate on not disappearing.

All of a sudden, I am there, standing in front of my old house, while Erik prowls inside. It is clear no one lives in it, probably because it is so off the beaten path. That's why my father liked it; it wasn't likely to be stumbled upon by outsiders. It is still large and grand and beautiful but I'm not able to appreciate that. All I can see is a place where I was kept prisoner.

I look down and my hands have faded, the invisibility creeping up my arms and legs. I feel it spread through my chest, covering the wrinkled pink dress I fell asleep in on the plane. My body remembers the last time I was here and it seems to know that my power was the only reason I escaped. _I'm better than this. _No, I'm not. _I'm not scared. _Yes, I am. _I'm not going to run. _But I want to.

Erik emerges from the house and I flex my fingers, suddenly fully visible again. If he noticed what was going on with me, he doesn't mention it.

"There was no sign of Shaw," he says down to me. "It seems like he abandoned the place years ago."

"I figured he had but it was worth a shot. Sadly, if he's not here, I don't know where he'd be staying," I reply, crossing my arms. I hid my hands under them, just in case. "There was nothing in there?"

Erik had a knowing expression on his face but he still shook his head. "It was obvious that he'd lived there at some point but there wasn't anything to give us a clue about where he might be now." I nod.

"Then he may not even be in the country," I tell him. "I'm sorry. This was the best idea I had."

He only shrugged in obvious disappointment. This might merely be the latest false lead Erik had followed in pursuit of my father and again, I feel sorry for him.

By now, it is too late to even think about going anywhere else so we go to a hotel for the night. I feel a little nauseous when I realize we'll be sharing a room but I understand that I still haven't proven I'm not going to fade and run while I can. Erik doesn't trust me and I'm still utterly at his mercy. This vendetta against my father may still include finishing me off purely because Erik's mother was murdered. Just because his mood towards me has changed doesn't mean that he isn't tricking me… and he could be thinking the same thing about me.

I breathe an audible sigh of relief when I see two beds and an incredibly nice bathroom. My fingers, which had been disappearing, slowly become visible.

"I think embarrassment must be your biggest problem," Erik says, brushing past me.

"Excuse me?" I ask, trying to look outraged but only proving his point. My hands go back to fading as I clam up.

"You were embarrassed about sharing the room because you thought the receptionist was under the impression we must be together. I could tell because you tried to hide your hands." I shook my head before dropping my purse on the closest bed.

"That's preposterous," I say. Erik looks at me and arches a brow.

"You have a very obvious tell, Audrey. You didn't stop concentrating until just now when you saw two beds and even then, the mutation was showing anyway."

"Sometimes, I can't control it. It doesn't mean I'm embarrassed," I respond. He smiles at me as though he doesn't believe a word I say. I don't mention that he's right.

Luckily, Erik is at ease with us not talking. We each take turns in the shower and while I am in there, he somehow has the time to retrieve clothes for us to wear tomorrow. Argentina is unfortunately hot and humid. London, not so much.

I spend my time in the shower contemplating what's going to happen after tomorrow. If my father isn't in the country and I have no idea where else he might be, will it all be over? Will I fly back to London to return to hopelessly applying for lab positions? Or is Erik going to continue dragging me around the globe in a desperate attempt to murder Sebastian Shaw? Whatever the case, I am positive that any leads here will only provide dead ends. Wherever my father is, it is not in Villa Gesell, Argentina.

"Just so you're aware, I've taken extra precautions for us to be locked in this room," Erik tells me, sitting on the opposite bed. I want to ask him what those precautions were but I decide against it. "So you can't just get up and run away in the middle of the night."

"I'll keep that in mind," I reply, "but I wasn't planning on running anyway." He looks like he was half expecting this answer and half not expecting an answer at all. "I know that we don't really know each other but I want to help you. It might be hard to believe, given I've led you to a dead end, but I truly do want to help." Erik keeps up his guarded expression for now but I can tell this is exactly what he wanted. Ever since I told him on the plane a little bit of what my father did to me, I knew it had changed his tune. He's beginning to look at me as though I am less of a captive and more of a friend. Oddly enough, this really pleases me because in many ways, I feel like I've never actually had a friend. Especially not a friend who completely understands what I went through and why I would turn my back on my only remaining family.

_This is crazy, _I think. _I barely know this guy and yet, I desperately want him to trust me, when he probably doesn't trust anybody. _I could be forming an alliance with a psychopath for all I know but something inside me says, _Whatever he is, you are too. _

"It may not be a dead end. We still haven't gone to that bar you mentioned," Erik responds to me.

"I suppose you're right. There may be someone there who at least remembers my father." _And has hopefully forgotten about me. _"I've been trying to think of other places that he might have gone and I just keep drawing blanks. I'm pretty positive he wouldn't have returned to Germany or maybe anywhere else in Europe."

"Oh, I'm sure he's not in Europe. I've spent years trying to cover his tracks there and each one only revealed a slim possibility of where he may be. I never turned anything up." Well, that answers that.

"Erik, how long have you been doing this?" I ask. "Have you been looking for my father since you were a child?"

"Essentially," he replies. I have so many questions. I want to ask how long he was with my father and everything that happened while he was there. I want to know whether I saw him as a child and never realized what was happening to him. I want to ask why he's never given himself a chance to move past it.

But, "How did he kill your mom?" is the question I decide to ask.

Erik explains it to me slowly, as though it happened just a week ago. Once in the concentration camp, he had been separated from his mother and in anger, his power manifested, allowing him to bend open the gate that had just shut behind his mom. My father had seen it and ordered Erik brought to him. Immediately, my father commanded Erik to move a simple coin but he couldn't do it. Then my father demanded that Erik's mother be brought in. He was going to count to three. If Erik didn't move the coin, my father would shoot his mom. He couldn't do it.

Erik reaches into his pocket and pulls out the coin. He reaches towards me and I reluctantly take it. There's nothing out of the ordinary about the coin but it almost makes me sick to touch it. I flip it over and then hand it back to Erik. I press it into his palm but I grasp his hand instead of pulling back.

"I don't know what to say," I tell him. What happened to Erik is so much worse than what happened to me. I still blame myself for not trying to get away earlier and now, I feel guilty for not at least attempting to take my father out.

"You didn't do it," he replies. "But are you sure that you're alright with me killing Shaw?" I go with my gut and nod.

"If I still thought that I was the only one he hurt, I would just go on pretending it didn't happen but now I know and I'm back to wishing him dead." Erik starts to smile and I know that again, I have given him just what he wanted.

"So you're in this with me?"

"Yes, I think I am." Erik full on smiles at me then and I watch, entranced, as he moves the coin my father had threatened him with all those years ago through his fingers.

Deep down, I know that I have entered into an alliance that I will never fully break. Deep down, I'm sure that meeting Erik Lehnsherr has changed my life forever.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! Sorry for the wait! I've been super busy with summer classes and I'm going on vacation for the next week. But thanks so much for all the support I've been getting! I hope you all like this chapter!**

"Should I wait outside? I really don't want to give you away," I say. Erik shakes his head in response.

"You can't let this control your life," he responds, staring down at me. I make myself nod and take a deep breath. "You don't have to do a thing. Just stay close. I'll do all the talking," Erik reassures me.

Still, I'm worried. I clutch my hands together to stop my power from showing and then make myself tug at my khaki skirt that cuts off mid-thigh. Every time I take a deep breath, I think I'm likely to pop the buttons off my cream blouse.

The bar is just ahead and I'm close to being sick.

"I think we should find something in here," Erik says, possibly attempting to distract me.

"I hope so," I respond.

I'm actually not sure what to expect when I follow Erik through the doors of the bar. All I know is that I have a part to play. There is the off chance someone might recognize me here (after all, I'd been mid-teens when I left) and I can't risk it. Erik is taking the lead while I pretend to be a foreigner with no knowledge of the language or anything. It won't be hard to duck my head and fake not knowing what's going on, especially since I haven't practiced Spanish in years.

Three men are in the bar; the bartender and two customers, who quite obviously are not Argentinian. The heels I've been wearing since my last shift at the bank, clack against the floor as Erik says something rather pleasant to the three men. I don't pay attention to it because he's most likely telling them we're brother and sister or we're dating and he's having to guide me everywhere because I am the stereotypical, know-nothing tourist.

I follow him to the front of the bar, where Erik sits down, and I cut my eyes back at the two patrons. I try not to breathe a sigh of relief when I realize I don't know them but then I freeze. I hear Erik say something to the bartender but my mind doesn't process what it was. My eyes are locked on a picture on the wall. It shows my father on a yacht called the Caspartina in Miami with one of the customers sitting behind me. I haven't seen my dad since I left Argentina years ago and I didn't expect it to make me clam up. _But I should've._

I reach behind me and feel Erik take my hand, pulling me towards him quickly. He makes it look like I'm coy but in actuality, I'm losing control fast. _Calm down, calm down. Breathe in, breathe out. _Erik looks at me with mild concern, letting go of my hand.

"Miami," I whisper, closing the space between us before nodding at the picture on the wall. Erik looks over my shoulder and begins to smile. We got what we came for. I'm ready to sigh and order a shot of tequila as the bartender approaches us. I hear him tell Erik his beer is German as he hands it over. _He must've ordered it when I was practically having a breakdown, _I think. Erik nods his approval.

Then one of the men behind us speaks… in German. I may be fuzzy on Spanish but I haven't forgotten German and likely, I never will. I have to pretend that I don't understand what he's saying so I keep a blank look on my face as I stare at Erik, knowing he's already figured out the situation. It's the man in the picture with my father.

"What brings you to Argentina?" Erik responds in German, turning to look at them. I make myself do it too, fingers wrapping around the edge of the bar.

"The climate. I'm a pig farmer," he replies before laughing. My grip on the bar tightens and Erik cuts his eyes at me. This isn't going to end well.

"Tailor. Since I was a boy," the other man says. "My father made the finest suits in Dusseldorf." I can tell by the look on Erik's face that we won't be leaving easily. Someone would have to be completely stupid to not realize that these guys had been Nazis but I'm willing to bet that most people wouldn't challenge them, even if they did know. I am quickly learning that Erik is not "most people."

"My parents were from Dusseldorf," Erik responds, getting up from the bar stool. He presses his hand against my knee, as if to tell me to stay back, and then walks over to their table. I start to feel nauseous.

"What were their names?" the tailor asks. _You shouldn't have said that, _I think before Erik replies.

"Oh, they didn't have a name. It was taken from them by pig farmers," Erik clinks his glass against the pig farmer's, "and tailors," and does the same with the tailor's. My stomach drops as I look over the bar at the bartender. He seems as baffled as I'm trying to look.

I turn back to see Erik flip his left hand over on the table, revealing the numbers tattooed on his forearm. I feel my mouth turn up in a smile despite myself when I see their reaction. Then it takes a turn for the worse.

I jump down off the bar stool and move forward as the pig farmer draws a knife. It's a German knife, one that would've been carried by an SS officer. Erik catches him before he can do anything, firmly gripping the knife in his own hand.

"'Blood and honor,'" Erik reads. "Which would you like to shed first?"

"We were under orders," the pig farmer says.

"Blood then." Erik slams the knife down through his hand and the tailor shoots up from his seat before turning his gaze on me. Dread begins to fill me. I don't think before I throw up my hands, showing I can't harm anyone. Unfortunately, I show that I can do something else.

My fingers disappear and invisibility spreads down my arms. The man in front of me looks at me in horror and then I hear the bartender shout. I turn around and see that he's levelled a gun at my chest. I don't recall much Spanish but I clearly understand that the tailor is encouraging the bartender to shoot me. I see the bartender begin to look at his hand holding the gun in bewilderment.

"Audrey!" Erik says and I drop to my knees on instinct. The gun fires and the tailor hits the floor in front of me. I gasp as I feel my power kicking in again. I look back to Erik to see him hurl the knife at the bartender. I don't even try to control my invisibility as it hits my chest and the knife returns to Erik's hand with no effort from him at all.

He thrusts it through the pig farmer's hand again as the man yells. I scramble towards the bartender, who is most likely dead on the floor. I grab the gun and force myself up off the floor. Even as my hand is shaking, I level it at the pig farmer.

He asks, "What are you?" looking between Erik and I with equal disdain,

"Let's just say, we're a little like Frankenstein's monster," Erik says, "and we're looking for our creator." I barely have time to comprehend what he's just said before the pistol in my hand fires… without me pulling the trigger. I drop the gun in silence before rubbing my hands over my face.

_What on Earth have I gotten into?_

"I knew you couldn't do it," was the explanation Erik gave me on the way to the airport. He's right. I couldn't.

He doesn't apologize for it, which I find admirable. Instead he acts like nothing out of the ordinary happened. I want to ask whether we'll be killing our way to America but I figure that would be in poor taste and after all, those men had had it coming.

The flight from Buenos Aires to Miami will still be fairly long but at least, it will be overnight. Maybe I'll be able to sleep and forget this absolutely crazy day.

Erik doesn't manhandle me through the airport like he did last time so I am now positive that he at least trusts me. Weirdly enough, I am extremely happy that he does. I've now seen him murder men in cold blood, one of them by making the gun in my hand go off without my permission. But at the same time, he'd made sure the bartender didn't kill me so if my life is still on the line and this is all just a massive joke, he wouldn't have saved me then. _That's something, isn't it? If he was going to get rid of me, he'd have done it by now. _

For the fifth time in a single day, I wonder yet again whether I'm losing my mind.

"Are you doing alright?" Erik asks me, jolting me from my thoughts.

"What?" I say as he moves to stand by my right side.

"Are you nervous about the plane?"

"My opinion on airplanes isn't any different than it was two days ago so yes, I'm nervous." It actually looks like he might laugh.

"The plane isn't going to crash," he says.

"You're probably going to have to keep reminding me of that," I respond.

"I think you might be right." Erik nods at my hands before grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the crowd of people waiting to board. We reach a wall and he moves in front of me to block it from being seen but it doesn't help. I'm lucky he's caught this. I didn't even have a clue. Besides that, it's spreading up my arms fast and I can't stop it.

_Get it together, Audrey. People could be seeing this. People probably ARE seeing this. You're vanishing in the middle of an airport. In. The. Middle. Of. An. Airport. _I try my deep breaths. I try clenching my hands into fists to use force. None of it works.

"What's happening?" Erik asks, if a little forcefully.

"I don't know," I respond. _Deep breaths. In and out. _

"What do you normally do? What usually works?" It must be worse than I'm thinking because Erik looks worried. I can't make myself look down to see how far it's spread.

"Um, sometimes I count to five," I say.

"Okay, I'll count," he replies. "One." I take a deep breath and clench my fists again. "Two." I close my eyes. "Three." It's working. "Four." Erik touches the tops of my shoulders and then the sides of my arms. "Five." I open my eyes and I'm completely visible. I half-laugh in relief.

"Thank you," I say while he drops his hands from my arms.

"I thought touching you might help," he tells me. "I thought you wouldn't want to turn someone else invisible." Erik seems like he thinks he was grasping at straws and he most likely was. But it worked.

"You're right!" I exclaim. "It was subconscious. I need to remember that." _Who'd have thought of that? Not me, that's for sure._

"Has that ever happened before?" Erik and I walk back toward the gate and I try to keep myself calm.

"Only when I go fully invisible, which is rare," I reply, pulling out my passport. "I suppose I have to do something about it." I look down at my passport for a moment, sort of disappointed in myself. I should be in much better control of this. I just keep pushing it back and pushing it back until it bursts forth, unwanted. There has to be another way.

"I'll help you." I pause for a second as he keeps going. "It's just a lot of concentration. You can focus on something to make your power stronger or to at least make it happen when you want." First, he included me back at the bar when he said we were looking for my father (with what was probably an incredibly accurate metaphor about Frankenstein) and now he offers to help me control my invisibility. I'm honestly shocked.

"Concentrate on what?" I ask, probably to give myself another reason to wonder whether I'm completely losing it.

"Maybe anger, maybe something else. A specific emotion might give you what you need to get the job done." I nod as we reach the gate and Erik hands over our tickets. I follow him onto the plane, fast on his heels.

Yet again, I have to sit by the window but I don't complain. I just need to distract myself long enough for the plane to get off the ground and then I can hopefully sleep for a few hours. This day has been weirder than I ever could've imagined. The man who just slid down into the seat beside me outright killed former Nazis this afternoon. This same man, who at first acted terribly annoyed with me, seems like he's trying to be my friend.

_I should let him_. He's the only person I've ever met who could even vaguely know what I've gone through. _And he wants it,_ I think, turning to face Erik. He's been going it alone for probably as long as I have. He wants a partner in crime. He wants someone who knows what happened. He wants someone who could be just as angry as he is. And he thinks I'm that person.

_Maybe I am, maybe I could be. _That thought leaves my head almost immediately. I don't have it in me to outright kill somebody, even a person I know deserves it (like my father). I had a gun pulled on a man who'd probably been responsible for the deaths of thousands in Nazi death camps and I still couldn't do it. Erik had known straightaway that I wasn't capable of it. I had even been mad, perhaps enraged, but more than that, I think I'd been unnerved and once that happens, I'm of no use to anyone until I can tame what I can do. That doesn't bode well for the imminent battle against my father, one that I'm not sure either Erik or I is ready to fight.

I feel the plane begin to take off and unfortunately, I'm not consumed enough in my thoughts to ignore it. I grip the armrests and close my eyes.

"You want me to count?" Erik asks with a kick of odd enjoyment. I nervously laugh in response.

"No, that's okay. Just remind me that you're making sure the plane won't explode mid-air," I reply.

"Well, I can't reassure you of that. I'm not sure it won't." I crack my eyes open and give him a look, feeling the tips of my fingers disappearing slowly.

"If that's your idea of a joke, it's not even remotely funny." Erik finally breaks down and smiles.

"I was kidding. I have it all under control." I turn my head to openly stare at him.

"You're concentrating on it right now?" He nods at me. "So you could tell if anything awry was going to happen?"

"Almost certainly." I widen my eyes at him. "Do you want to take notes?" I laugh again as the plane levels. Finally, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Now we just have to reach Florida.

"Yes, I do but I won't make you be my lab rat. You've probably spent too many years as one already." I see his face fall for a split second. Now I regret saying anything. "Could I ask you something?"

"Sure," he responds warily.

"How do you plan on doing this?" I question. "How are you going to kill my father?"

"Once we find the boat, it'll just be a matter of getting on board and catching him off-guard."

"Okay, say we do that. What then? How are you going to do it?"

"I guess that depends on what I have and what's around." My stomach sinks as I realize he hasn't thought this far ahead.

"My father is more to handle than those men in that bar today. You can't go in half-cocked, with anger blurring your vision. It won't be enough." I've made him mad, that much I can tell.

"Do you think I don't know what he's capable of?" _Pretty much. _"I've been planning this for years while you stood back and buried your head in the sand. I think I know what I'm doing." I feel my ability act up but I refuse to acknowledge it.

"I'm not saying you're not a capable murderer," I say, lowering my voice, "but my father is much more than an average man. One misstep could cost you your life." _Or my life. _"Worse yet, you could falter and get us both taken back into captivity and that's the last thing I ever want to accidentally fall into again." Erik seems to consider what I'm saying and I know he agrees with me. "Look, before I ran away when I was fifteen, if I'd thought that I would be capable of killing him, I would have done it then."

"You don't have the stomach for it. I do."

"Maybe," I say, allowing him that victory. "But mainly, I couldn't figure out how to do it. He can take anything you throw at him and make it ten times worse and I knew he would see me coming. You have an advantage that I didn't have. I just want you to think everything through."

"Well, what do you suggest?" he asks, his handsome face colored with something like intrigue.

"He needs to be incapacitated somehow before you make the strike. It's the only way I see it working."

"I think that's a great idea. Maybe it's something you'll be good at." I haven't even taken a breath as my power begins to consume me.

"What? Are you insane? I could get you killed!" He shakes his head,

"I have total faith in you, Audrey. My power's offensive, yours is defensive. We'll make you go fully invisible."

"Erik, you don't understand. That's only happened to me a handful of times. There's no guarantee that this will work."

"We'll make a plan right now and I can guarantee you, it will work."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey ya'll! Sorry for the wait! I've been out of town and working on summer classes for my university, ugh. I hope you really enjoy this chapter because I had a lot of fun writing it. Let me know what you think! And as usual, I only own Audrey.**

Miami is pretty much just as hot and miserable as Argentina was. I can practically feel my hair becoming frizzy. The cream blouse Erik bought me in Villa Gesell is sticking to me in a multitude of unflattering places as I blandly try to fan myself at the boat docks. I squint my hazel eyes, even though I'm wearing sunglasses. _The sooner I see the Caspartina, the sooner I can get into some air conditioning._

We've spent virtually the entire day since landing in Miami wandering around, searching for my father's boat. It's been one hot and humid job. I finally had to buy some cheap flip-flops and get rid of my heels. I also wish I'd had the forethought to buy sunscreen. My arms look red.

It's supposedly winter here in Florida. I find that hard to believe.

I pull my shirt away from my body as I see Erik finally returning from talking to someone about personal boat docks. I squint my eyes again and see that he's holding something. He arrives in front of me, not sweaty or even remotely ruffled, and doesn't say anything as he places what he was holding on my head. It's a sunhat, white and wide-brimmed.

"You looked conspicuous… and sunburned," Erik says.

"Well, thanks, I guess," I reply, adjusting it. Erik is wearing a hat too but it's an attractive fedora that doesn't make him look tourist-y. It just accentuates how odd and good-looking he is, with broad shoulders and a slim waist. "What did he say?"

"That we should have better luck toward the outskirts of the city, closer to deeper water."

"That makes sense. Knowing my father, that boat is a yacht."

Thirty minutes later, we have found the Caspartina, sitting in fairly deep water close to the open ocean. I'm crouching on a lonesome beach, looking over Erik's shoulder and pushing the bill of my white sunhat out of my eyes. There are a couple of people on deck, one of which is easily identifiable as Sebastian Shaw. The others are a younger guy and a woman wearing a dress that is much too short for her. All three are decked out in white.

Nausea bubbles in my stomach, making me want to throw up. Even at this distance, I can tell my father has barely aged and even at this distance, I can see his resemblance to me.

Erik looks back at me before standing and pulling me to my feet. We walk away from the beach fast while still trying to remain inconspicuous.

"Who do you think those other people are?" I ask.

"Probably more mutants like us that Shaw is exploiting," Erik responds. _They looked pretty happy to me. _

"What are we going to do about them?" The question I should probably be asking is, 'What are _you _going to do about them?'

"I'll take care of them. You just worry about subduing your father." I make myself take a deep breath.

"How should I go about doing that?"

"Aren't you a scientist? Can't you use some deduction to figure out how to incapacitate Shaw without unwittingly helping him?" I stop mid-step. Not for the first time do I think he's crazy.

"Um, first of all, I am a chemist. Second of all, I am a chemist that works with metal, which is not a living person last time I checked. And thirdly, I have never even slapped anyone. I am severely unqualified for this." Erik stopped and turned around.

"You're the one who said he needed to be subdued."

"He does."

"Well, who else can do that?" I purse my lips. Yep, he's got me here. "You'll be fine, Audrey. Adrenaline will kick in and you'll creep up on him. You won't even have to hold him that long. I'll be there." I nod. "He'll probably be more intrigued by seeing his daughter again than worried that you might kill him." Erik's right. My father will laugh at me and ask me why it took me so long to come find him. He'll call me by my original first name, Marika. He won't be intimidated by me. He never has been.

"All right," I say, taking some deep breaths. "But you better be right behind me. I hope we have a fool-proof plan."

"We do. Let's get started."

Erik says night would be the best time to attack and I completely agree with him. If the man and woman accompanying my father are mutants, we have no idea what they're capable of. It would be hard for me to believe they could overpower Erik but when I think about the fact that a state of anger is Erik's normal disposition, I wouldn't be surprised if they got a hit in.

I follow his lead all over the city, from one place to another. I make myself eat, even if I'm so nauseous I can't think straight. I don't complain as I look around a surf shop and see Erik grab two wetsuits.

_Where could he possibly be getting this money? I'm not sure enacting revenge is a paying job._

After he pays for them, he hands me one. It looks tiny and skintight. I make a face, feeling my power want to kick in. Erik looks like he wants to laugh at me and asks whether I would prefer wearing a regular bathing suit. _Nope. Probably not. _There's not a lot of opportunity for swimming in London so I haven't worn a swimsuit in quite a while.

Night begins to settle in after only a couple of hours, which only increases my nerves. Erik is mostly quiet, brooding about what's going to happen once we get on deck. He's most likely also wondering whether he'll have to leave me behind or whether I'll betray him. I'm sure that by now he trusts me but he knows I'm not exactly a mercenary. I can't even believe that I agreed to this. This is insane.

After I zip up my wetsuit and tie my hair back, Erik and I head back to the spot where we saw the Caspartina earlier. On the way, I try to give myself some kind of mental pep talk. _Just go invisible, creep up on Shaw, pull his arms behind him before he knows what hit him, and let Erik kill him. Then it will all be over. We'll be off scot-free. I hope._ Much as I hope talking myself through it will help ease my churning stomach and slowly disappearing extremities, I know that it won't. I am going to help kill my father after all and even though I abhor him, he's still my dad. Can I just walk up to him, tell him he's going to die, and let Erik do it? Part of me knows I can and most likely will. The other part of me is terrified and absolutely positive that I'm in over my head.

"Are you ready for this?" Erik asks as we stand on the same stretch of beach we were on earlier, staring at the Caspartina. I cut my eyes over at him, expecting a sarcastic or mean look, but all I see is raw rage. He's worked himself up and I bet he can barely see straight. That's not a good sign. You don't have to be a genius to know that anger causes you to act foolishly. It looks like I'm going to have to be the rational one but at least normally, I'm pretty good at that.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I respond. _Which is to say, never. _

"I can't believe it's finally almost over." I can hear his breathing quicken, see him becoming jittery with sheer excitement. He's been waiting for this since he was a child. I hope that once it's over, he can put everything behind him and move on with his life. It's fairly clear that up until this point, everything he's done has been leading up to killing my father. It should make me reevaluate what I'm doing here but all it does is make me feel sorry for him. "Will you be okay with seeing Shaw?"

"I don't know. Will you?" Erik shifts and the light of the moon illuminates his face. He doesn't even need to respond to me for me to know he's ready and that he's been ready for a very long time. He nods anyway.

"If you're worried, it's fine. That'll help push you to be invisible until you can control it,"

"I've already told you, I can't do that on command. I'm just going to try to be stealthy… and hope those other two mutants don't cause too many snags."

"If we time it correctly, they won't. But they're my problem. You just worry about Shaw." I can see him from here on the front of the yacht with the woman and man from earlier. It makes me want to heave.

"Do you think he'll know you?"

"I'll make sure he does," Erik replies. I see the glint of the hilt of a knife at his calf.

"Do you think he'll apologize or something?" Erik lets out a breath.

"He can only manipulate you if you let him. Maybe he'll try to placate you, call you by your real name, but he won't try that with me. I think it's more likely that he'll laugh in our faces."

"Yes, you're right," I say. "Wait, you know my real name?"

"It's Marika. You weren't exactly a well-kept secret." _Well, now that you mention it…_

"I can only imagine what you heard. 'Marika's _such_ a disappointment. I wish she was a boy. She'll never amount to anything.'" My blood begins to boil even at the thought. It's bad enough that my father told me that to my face but to think that he was telling anyone who would listen infuriates me. I catch the hint of a smile play at the edges of Erik's mouth.

"That's good. Now you're angry. Let's do it." I feel myself nod at him.

Erik turns away from me and heads into the water so I follow him. I gasp as the small waves lap around my legs. It's freezing. _So this is winter in Florida. _I hold my breath and just make myself go in quickly. I'm careful to be quiet and not overly tire myself out. The swim toward the Caspartina is in our favor and suddenly, we are upon it. I can't tell if I'm out of breath or if my heart is starting to pound.

I can barely see Erik in the dark but I can tell he's found a ladder onto the yacht. He makes me take it first and I hoist myself up out of the water. It's colder in the open air than it was in the ocean. My arms feel weak but I know it is nerves. Erik gives my thighs a shove to get me over the fence surrounding the deck and I land on it silently. He jumps over it behind me, making no noise. He brushes wet hair out of his eyes and he looks down at my hands. They're gone.

"Don't calm yourself down," he whispers. I nod. _I can do this. _Instead of my normal routine of deep breathing, I let my breath run ragged. I let my hands start shaking. I let the mutation take hold of me in my chest. "It's working." _Get mad, Audrey. _"We should be up on the front deck in five minutes, no more."

"If this goes south, then just get yourself out," I whisper.

"Same to you," he responds, bending to pull his knife out of its sheath.

I know my power has completely taken me over. I have a faint sense of nausea and I feel like my legs might give out from underneath me; both are signs I've had when I've been fully invisible before. _This is lucky, _I think as Erik and I go our separate ways, each of us taking a different side of the cabin. _For once it happened when I wanted!_

Walking along the cabin quietly, I already feel triumphant. That is a mistake. As I begin to feel good, proud of myself, I start becoming solid. _No, no, no. _I brush at my arms , stupidly trying to keep hold to the invisibility for a longer amount of time. _You barely let me live a normal life but the one time it's okay to be a freak, you totally hold out? How on Earth does that make any sense?_

I press my back against the cabin to keep to the shadows. I can hear them talking. The woman is laughing at something clever my father said. Hearing his voice starts to make me sick. How can I hope to get close to him now? Then I hear something, a sound like a whoosh of abnormal wind. Somehow, I know that wasn't what it was. I look over my shoulder and see a man. He's tall and… red. I shriek when he grabs hold of my arm and I hear the whoosh again.

I have barely taken a breath when I am thrust onto the front deck, which is nowhere near where I was a minute ago. _What the hell? We have red men that can teleport? And no one has discovered mutants yet? _I groan before quickly turning myself around.

"Well done, Azazel." When I hear that voice, I launch myself to my feet. Sebastian Shaw is staring at me as though I am a boring science experiment that has finally surprised him. I freeze and my stomach turns. He looks the same. He's barely aged. The woman beside him only looks at me incredulously. She's pretty. I might even dare to call her beautiful. "I wondered when you'd finally find me again, Audrey. How long has it been?"

"Not long enough," I respond. Even if I can't move fast enough to grab him, I can distract him. My father is lounging on a couch with the woman beside him. The other man is standing and the teleporter is still close to me. I have to say, none of them look dissatisfied with where they are or what they're doing.

"Tsk, tsk. Is that any way to greet your father? You have sought me out, after all." My invisibility starts to flare up when my father stands. He nods and I hear the teleporter disappear. I shiver. "I see you still haven't beaten that mental block. That timidity will always hold you back. You could've utilized this power in so many ways but instead, you rejected it just as you rejected me. I was just trying to help you as I've always done, to unlock your power and help you embrace it."

"How did you ever help me?" I say. "How can you say you ever helped anyone?" _How long has it been? Where's Erik?_

"There's someone else," the woman interrupts. "She's got someone with her."

"What?" I exclaim, my power gripping me. Shaw notices that, sees how the invisibility is eating me alive. He smiles.

"Ah, you finally found someone to be friends with after your latest job rejection."

"I knew it! I knew you were responsible for that!" He's had tabs on me for all these years. He's sabotaged my life, my career, my ability to be normal.

"I was sure you'd find your way back to me when the time was right, when you were finally ready." _Come on, Erik! Help me or jump overboard! _

"Ready for what?" I spit out bitterly. "Ready to watch you torture more people like me? Don't count on it." _You have the element of surprise! Hurry!_

"You're such a spit fire now. There's still so much you don't know but I can help you with that. Together we'll be far better than apart. I need you, Marika." There it is. A chill flows over me and I back away as Shaw approaches, trying to shift closer to the edge of the boat.

"That's not my name," I mutter. "What are you talking about?"

"Why are you here, Audrey? To show that you've finally grown a backbone? To make sure I know how successful you've become on your own? Those aren't terribly good reasons for swimming out here and trespassing on a ship that isn't yours… but then, you never were exceptional, except for that invisibility." I ball my hands into fists as rage begins to fill me up. _You think my power is exceptional? It's a disability that you never taught me how to control! _"But we'll get past all this pettiness."

I shake my head and continue edging toward a jumping off point but Erik breezes past me before I get the chance. "Herr Doctor," Erik says, his long fingers folding around his knife. He moves in front of me so fast I think he's forgotten the entire plan.

"Little Erik Lehnsherr," Shaw responds before turning to me. "I see I've underestimated you, Audrey. You knew just the kind of friends to make."

"They're here to kill you," the woman said before squinting her eyes. I barely have the chance to realize she's said something before Erik yells and collapses to the ground in front of me. The knife clatters to the deck. His hands cover his head like something is piercing it.

"What are you doing to him?" I exclaim. "Stop it!" My power starts to flex and the tips of my fingers begin to feel weighty. I don't think before I throw up my left hand, spreading my fingers. Something jolts from them, a wave of power that knocks the woman off-balance. Erik is suddenly fine again and turns to look up at me in amazement. I look down at the palm of my hand, horrified. _What the hell was that? Some kind of force field?_

"Wow, Audrey. You've come a long way from disappearing at the dinner table," my father says. My breathing becomes ragged and my stomach turns.

Unfortunately, I've given the woman enough time to recover. She gives me the most withering look I've ever beheld and suddenly, I feel like someone is drilling into my skull. I scream and hit the deck hard. My fingers go to my temples and I grit my teeth. I can't see anything real. All I can see is memories; disturbing memories of my father, of him hurting me, of him laughing. I barely register that Erik has reached me. I feel him pick me up, hands against my legs and back, and then his support is gone as he throws me overboard. I scream again as I hit water.

Once I'm underwater, my connection to that woman breaks. My hair fans out around me, loose from its tie, and I gasp for air when I come back up. My lungs and eyes burn from the salt. I hear a splash farther away from me.

"Erik!" I yell. "Erik!"

"Audrey," I hear him respond, barely loud enough for me to hear. I breathe a sigh of relief and swim over to him. "How'd you do that?"

"I don't know. I was mad." I don't have the time to wonder about what's going on with my powers right now. All I can say about it is that I am freaked out. "Did you get him?" I ask, hoping beyond all hope that Erik had. Now that my anger is fresh, I want this done. I want this to be over. I want my father dead.

"No," Erik replies, "but I'm going to."

I jump when I hear something from in front of the Caspartina. I see lights and a massive ship along with smaller speed boats approaching. "This is the US Coast Guard. Do not attempt to move your vessel. Stay where you are." _What in the world is the Coast Guard doing here?_

The next few minutes are a total blur. Even at this distance, I see the guy working for my father stand at the front of the Caspartina and jerk his hands upward. I feel myself gasp as I see a pair of cyclones completely obliterate the speedboats. _I have got to write this stuff down._ Meanwhile, Erik has brought his hands up out of the water and I see him grit his teeth. I don't have the time to ask him what he's doing before the Caspartina's anchor is pulled up out of the ocean. My eyes grow larger as Erik swings one of his arms down and the anchor hits the boat with a solid force. Wood splinters upward and the yacht is practically split in half.

_Please let this work, please let this work._

Light explodes in the water beneath us as something ejects from the Caspartina. Erik and I give each other a look of mild confusion. "A submarine!" I say. "They're getting away in a submarine!"

Erik needs no more information than that and attempts to pull at it with his power. Immediately, I know that he's not powerful enough to do it yet because he's starting to be dragged through the water. He reaches back for me and I take hold of his arm. Then it starts to go faster.

"It's not working!" I scream.

"I've got it!" he yells back. _No, you don't. _I wrap my arm around his chest for a better grip and the sub begins to hit deeper water as we get closer to the Coast Guard ship. Erik's still focused on it and his power begins to drag us under. I feel as though I'm about to drown. Water fills my mouth and nose. I jerk on Erik even as I'm torn between telling him not to let my father get away and not to drown himself.

"Let it go!" I yell. "You'll kill yourself!"

I think I hear him say, "So be it." I let my hold on him slip and I cough, relieved to be in calm water. Something in my head says, _yep, he's totally crazy. You just dodged a bullet there, Audrey._

Even as my throat is burning, I make myself scream, "Erik! Don't do this! It's not worth it!" I don't think he hears me. I start to swim, even though I am exhausted. I don't have far to go before a small boat arrives near me. I take a heaving breath when someone inside it reaches towards me. I don't even wonder about the consequences as I let them pull me in. There are two men and a woman in the boat. I try to calm my breathing as the woman introduces herself to me.

"I'm Agent Moira MacTaggert. You're safe now." I make myself nod at her. Now I know I'm in over my head.


End file.
